7. Tahajjud

Yahya related to me from Malik from Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir fromSaid ibn al-Jubayr that a man who has approval (as a relater ofhadith), told him that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, said, "If a man prays in the night andsleep overcomes him during it, Allah writes for him the reward of hisprayer, and his sleep is sadaqa for him." Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'nNadr, the mawla of Umaribn 'Ubaydullah, from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman that A'isha, thewife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Iwas sleeping in front of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, and my feet were in his qibla. When heprostrated, he nudged me and I pulled up my feet,and when he stood upI spread them out." She added, "There were no lamps in the house atthat time." Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from hisfather from A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, said, "If you are drowsy in prayer, sleep until sleepleaves you, because if you pray while you are drowsy, you do not knowwhether you may intend to ask for forgiveness but (in fact) ask forharm." Yahya related to me from Malik from Ismail from Ibn Abi Hakimthat he had heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, heard a woman praying at night. He said, "Who isthat?" and someone said to him,"It is al-Hawla bint Tuwayt, she doesnot sleep in the night." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, disapproved of that and his disapproval showed inhis face. Then he said, "Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, does notbecome weary, but you become weary. Take on whatever is within yourcapability." Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from hisfather that Umar ibn al-Khattab used to pray as much as Allah willedin the night until at the end of the night he would wake his familyfor the prayer. He used to say to them, "The prayer, the prayer." Thenhe would recite the ayat, "Enjoin prayer on your family and beconstant in it. We do not ask you for your provision. We provide foryou. And the end result is for taqwa." (Sura 20 ayat 132) Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Said ibnal-Musayyab used to say, "Sleep is disapproved of before isha andconversation after it." Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abdullah ibn Umar used to say, "(Voluntary) prayer in both the day and night is two at a time with a taslim after every 2 raka'ahs." Malik said, "That is the custom among us." Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az-Zubayr from A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, used to pray eleven rakas in the night, making themodd by a single one, and when he had finished he lay down on his rightside. Yahya related to me from Malik from Said ibn Abi Said al-Maqburifrom Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf that he asked A'isha, thewife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, what theprayer of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, was like during Ramadan. She said, "The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, did not go above eleven rakas inRamadan or at any other time. He prayed four - do not ask me abouttheir beauty or length. Then he prayed another four - do not ask meabout their beauty and length. Then he prayed three." A'ishacontinued, "I said, 'Messenger of Allah, are you sleeping before youdo the witr?' He said, A'isha, my eyes sleep but my heart does notsleep.' " Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from hisfather that A'isha, umm al-muminin said, "The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, used to pray thirteen rakas inthe night and then would pray two rakas when he heard the adhan forthe subh prayer." Yahya related to me from Malik from Makhrama ibn Sulayman fromKurayb, the mawla of Ibn Abbas, that Abdullah ibn Abbas told him thathe had spent a night at the house of Maimuna, the wife of the Prophet,may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who was also Ibn Abbas'mother's sister. Ibn Abbas said, "I lay down with my head on thebreadth of the cushion, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, and his wife lay down with their heads on itslength. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, slept, until, halfway through the night or a little before orafter it, he awoke and sat up and wiped the sleep away from his facewith his hand. Then he recited the last ten ayats of sura Ali Imran(Sura3). Then he got up and went over to a water-skin which washanging up and did wudu from it, doing his wudu thoroughly, and thenhe stood in prayer." Ibn Abbas continued, "I stood up and didthe same and then went and stood by his side. The Messenger of Allah,may Allah bless him and grant him peace, put his right hand on my headand took my right ear and tweaked it. He prayed two rakas, then tworakas, then two rakas, then two rakas, then two rakas, then two rakas,and then prayed an odd raka. Then he lay down until the muadhdhin cameto him, and then prayed two quick rakas, and went out and prayed subh." Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr fromhis father that Abdullah ibn Qays ibn Makhrama told him that Zayd ibnKhalid al-Juhani said one night that he was going to observe theprayer of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace. He said, "I rested my head on his threshold. The Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, got up and prayed twolong, long, long rakas. Then he prayed two rakas which were slightlyless long than the two before them. Then he prayed two rakas whichwere slightly less long than the two before them. Then he prayed tworakas which were slightly less long than the two before them. Then heprayed two rakas which were slightly less long than the two beforethem. Then he prayed two rakas which were slightly less long than thetwo before them. Then he prayed an odd raka, making thirteen rakas inall." Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi and Abdullah ibn Umarthat a man asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, about night prayers. The Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, said, "Night prayers are two by two,and when you are afraid that dawn is approaching, pray one raka tomake what you have prayed odd." Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Muhammadibn Yahya ibn Habban from Ibn Muhayriz that a man from the Kinanatribe called al-Mukhdaji heard a man in Syria known as Abu Muhammadsaying, "The witr is obligatory (fard)." Al-Mukhdaji said, "I went toUbada ibn as-Samit and presented myself to him as he was going to themosque, and told him what Abu Muhammad had said. Ubada said that AbuMuhammad had lied and that he had heard the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'Allah the Majestic andMighty has written five prayers for mankind, and whoever does them anddoes not waste anything of them by making light of what is due tothem, there is a pact for him with Allah that He will admit him intothe Garden.Whoever does not do them, there is no pact for him withAllah. If He wishes, He punishes him, and if He wishes, He admits himinto the Garden.' " Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu Bakr ibn Umar that Saidibn Yasar said, ''I was travelling with Abdullah ibn Umar on the roadto Makka, and fearing that it was nearly dawn. I dismounted and prayedwitr. Abdullah said, 'Is there not a model for you in the Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?' I said, 'Of course,by Allah!' He said, 'The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, used to pray witr on his camel.' " Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Said ibnal-Musayyab said, "Abu Bakr as-Siddiq used to pray witr when he wishedto go to bed, and Umar ibn al-Khattab used to pray witr at the end ofthe night. As for me, I pray witr when I go to bed." Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that a man askedAbdullah ibn Umar whether the witr was obligatory and Abdullah ibnUmar said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, prayed witr, and the muslims prayed witr." The man beganrepeating his question, and Abdullah ibn Umar kept saying, "TheMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayedwitr, and the muslims prayed witr." Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that A'isha, thewife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used tosay, "If someone fears that he will sleep through till the morning,let him pray the witr before he sleeps, and if some one hopes to wakefor the last part of the night, let him delay his witr." Yahya related to me from Malik that Nafi said, "I was withAbdullah ibn Umar in Makka. The sky was clouded over and Abdullahfeared that dawn was approaching so he prayed one raka for witr. Thenthe clouds cleared and he saw that it was still night, so he made hisprayers even with one raka. Then he continued to pray two rakas at atime, until when he feared the approach of dawn, he prayed one rakafor witr." Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umarused to say the taslim between the two rakas and the one raka of witrso that he could order something he needed. Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Sad ibn AbiWaqqas used to pray witr after isha with one raka. Maliksaid, "This is not the situation with us. Rather three is the minimumfor witr." Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Dinar thatAbdullah ibn Umar used to say, "The maghrib prayer is the witr of thedaytime prayers." Malik said, "If someone prays witr at thebeginning of the night, and goes to sleep, and then wakes up and itseems good to him to pray, let him pray, two rakas at a time. That iswhat I like most of what I have heard." Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd al Karim ibnAbi'l-Mukhariq al-Basri from Said ibn Jubayr that Abdullah ibn Abbasslept, and when he woke up, he said to his servant, "Go and see whatthe people have done," (by that time his sight had gone.) The servantwent out and returned saying, "The people have left from subh," soAbdullah ibn Abbas got up and prayed witr and then prayed subh. Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abdullahibn Abbas and Ubada ibn as-Samit and al-Qasim ibn Muhammad andAbdullah ibn Amir ibn Rabia had all prayed witr after the break ofdawn. Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from hisfather that Abdullah ibn Masud said, "I do not mind if the iqama forthe subh prayer is called while I am still praying witr." Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said, ''Ubadaibn as-Samit used to lead the people in prayer. One day he came outfor subh and the muadhdhin began to give the iqama for the subh prayerUbada silenced him, prayed witr and then led them in subh." Yahya related to me from Malik that Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Qasimsaid, "I heard Abdullah ibn Amir ibn Rabia say, 'I sometimes pray witrwhile hearing the iqama, or after the break of dawn.' " Abd ar-Rahmanwas not certain which he said. Malik related to me that Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Qasim heard hisfather al-Qasim ibn Muhammad say, "I have prayed witr after dawn." Malik said, "Only a person who oversleeps so that he does notdo the witr prays it after dawn. No one should intentionally make hiswitr after dawn." Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umarthat Hafsa, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, told him that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, used to pray two quick rakas when the muadhdhin hadfinished the adhan for the subh prayer, before the iqama was said forthe prayer. Malik related to me from Yahya ibn Said that A'isha, the wife ofthe Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "TheMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used topray the two rakas of the dawn (fajr) so quickly that I would say tomyself 'Has he recited the umm al-Qur'an or not?' " Yahya related to me from Malik from Sharik ibn Abdullah ibn AbiNamir that Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman said, "Some people heard theiqama and started to pray. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, came out and said, 'Are you doing two prayers atthe same time? Are you doing two prayers at the same time?' That wasabout the subh prayer and the two rakas before subh." Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abdullahibn Umar missed the two rakas of dawn, and then did them after the sunrose. Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Qasimthat al-Qasim ibn Muhammad had done the same as Ibn Umar.